The Best Ways to Enjoy Springtime Outside When Your Allergies Are the Worst

The Best Ways to Enjoy Springtime Outside When Your Allergies Are the Worst. Springtime surprises many as trees, shrubs and new stems quickly fill with buds of blooming flowers. The birds sing, and the bees collect nectar. Nature getting its sexy back means a season of torture for you.

Everyone thinks you hate spring, but you don’t. You hate the guerrilla attacks of pollen and other springtime delights that leave you with dry eyes, cracked skin and stuffy everything. That gentle springtime breeze sends a whirlwind of pollen up your nostrils to start the reaction all over again, just as you feel a bit better.

When your allergies are the worst, you can still enjoy springtime outside. Try these seven tips.

Ask Yourself: Is It Really Allergies?

It’s a question everyone asks you, and it’s a valid one. What you thought was allergies could be a cold or another virus. You can get either any time of the year — which is so very helpful, like the sweet folks who keep asking you this annoying question.

Tell the difference by watching the symptoms. Allergy symptoms persist, but colds and viruses last longer than you suspect — the average cold lasts seven to ten days. Allergy symptoms include congestion for over two weeks, itchy eyes, nose and top of the mouth and worsening symptoms after exposure to triggers, such as a day out at the park. If there are no aches or fever, you probably have allergies. See your doctor for confirmation.

Switch up Your Drugs

Your regular medications may fail to work if your symptoms got worse this year. In that case, it’s time to switch up your drugs or try a combination.

Go to an allergist if you still can’t find the right combination. They specialize in this area and will find the right medicine for you that lasts longer. Immunotherapy shots offer another alternative.

When you have the right drugs, you free up your attention to focus on the beauty of spring, minus the allergy ambush attacks.

Try Salt Water Rinses

Allergy medicine leaves you feeling like you constantly live in a thick stew of fog you’re wading through with heavy cannonballs strapped to each leg.

Get a Neti Pot or spray. The pot makes it look like you’re watering your nose, and you are — cleaning the pipes out. You’ll breathe better, but remember to stretch after bending over all weird to water your nose. Holistic health theory — the weirder it feels and looks, the more it works.

There’s always salt water nasal spray too. Dry it out.

Use Artificial Tears

Yes, you’re a dry-eyed robot that needs fake tears to show you have a heart to the world. Aqueous tear deficiency plagues those who don’t make enough tears, and doctors use artificial tears to treat this concern. Eye drops without preservatives and ointments may help lubricate the ocular surface of each dry eye.

Make an appointment with an ophthalmologist who can determine the real reason why you have dry eyes. It may or may not be allergies. Chronic conditions like dry eye syndrome persist even when you try to rest your eyes or come inside from wind exposure.

Take Clothes and Shoes off at the Door

Stop dragging dirt and allergens through your home! It’s bad enough that you have to confront Mother Nature’s sexy time outside, but don’t invite the frolic inside. Give yourself an allergy-free sanctuary so that you can appreciate the season more.

Use this plan as a reason to get immediately comfy when you walk in the door. Lay out your favorite stretchy, comfy lounge pants and a tank nearby, and kick off the allergy-covered shoes, shirt and pants near the door. In fact, bag it all to get your clothes ready for the wash.

Dare Open a Window — Or Shut it STAT

What if your allergies came from the inside all along? The allergy call is coming from inside the house, y’all.

Do you know what you’re specifically allergic to? What if it’s mold, a particular dust or another substance? Aside from seeing an allergist, experiment by opening a window one day to clear and regulate the air in your home. Keep the humidity lower than 50 percent to prevent dust mites from multiplying.

Shut it STAT if you notice that you’re still experiencing symptoms after a while. Shut the door on allergies, and open a window to enjoying springtime.

Wear a Mask

Enjoy Halloween in the springtime by wearing a mask when you do outside chores. For instance, wear a Jason mask when you have to cut down that termite infested tree. The neighbors will love it. Remember though, you should probably warn the little old lady next door before she puts on her glasses and goes to water her flowers.

That type of mask isn’t what you need for allergies, though. Look for masks marked with N95, which filter out 95 percent of allergy-causing particles. These masks comply with the standards of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. You can wear this type of mask inside or outside while you do your chores.

Use these seven tips to tame your allergies and get back outside to enjoy the springtime. Maybe there’s something to all this birds chirping and bees buzzing business!

Jennifer Landis is a wife, mom, writer, and healthy living blogger. She enjoys longs walks around the block with her toddler, prefers tea over coffee, and eats way too much peanut butter. You can find more from Jennifer on her blog, http://mindfulnessmama.com or follow her on Twitter @JenniferELandis